One More Chance: A Small Town Love Story

by A. J. Wynter

  “It was good up until mile eight and then it was touch and go even with the 4x4. There were some kids that had to walk in from the snow line.” It dawned on him. The kids. That’s obviously who was spreading the rumor. “Hey Fred, was there anything more to the story you heard?” he asked.

  “Just that you were up there banging Charlotte against the side of your truck.”

  Logan growled. “That’s not true.”

  Freddie shrugged. “Didn’t think so. She seems too classy for that.”

  “She is. She’s too classy for people around this town to be talking shit about her. Logan stood up and grabbed his coat from the chair that doubled as their coat closet. “Hey, you know a tall skinny kid, wears a jean jacket, face all scarred up from acne?”

  “Sounds like Stacy’s kid.” Logan turned and headed for the front door. “Where are you going?”

  “I have to put a stop to this.” Before he could leave, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He paused and jabbed at the screen to answer, it was his agent, Ray.

  “Sorry, Logan. I tried,” said the agent.

  “What do you mean you tried? I don’t want to do it anymore,” Logan told him.

  “You signed a contract.”

  “Isn’t that your job? To get me out of that contract?” Logan shouted into the phone.

  “Listen, Logan, your option is to talk to the girl directly. She’s the only one who can let you out of the deal. If you don’t go through with it, you’ll be in breach of contract and they could sue you,” Ray explained.

  “Fuck,” Logan muttered.

  “I’ll send you her contact info. Good luck.” Ray hung up the phone.

  “Ugh,” Logan groaned. He released the door handle and collapsed back into the coat chair. “Could this day get any worse?”

  “What was that all about?” Freddie asked.

  Logan rested his elbows on his knees. I agreed to be seen in public with some model in exchange for a donation to the Logan Brush Foundation.”

  Freddie almost spit out his coffee. “You’re getting paid to go on a date with a model? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

  “I guess so man.” Logan shook his head and buried it in his hands.

  “What’s the problem with that? That’s my dream.” Freddie reclined back into the sofa and slurped his coffee.

  “Charlotte,” Logan whispered.

  “Riiight,” Freddie replied. “You’re really falling for her, aren’t you?”

  “I am. Fred. What I have with her is special. I’ve never felt like this with anyone else.”

  “Well, then just explain it to her. She’s a smart cookie, she’ll understand.”

  It hadn’t even crossed his mind to just explain the details of the contract to Charlotte. “You’re proposing that I go to Josh’s wedding, where the woman I’m falling in love with, has to see me with some model on my arm all night?”

  “It’s all you’ve got, Logan.” Freddie shrugged. “Man, I wish I had your problems.” He reached for the remote and started flicking through the channels.

  Logan hauled himself out of the chair contemplating the two unpleasant things he had to do. The first was to explain to Charlotte that he already had a date to Josh’s wedding; and two, he had to nip the hot spring rumors in the bud before they got any more out of control.

  “Where does Stacy live?”

  “How should I know?”

  “You mean to tell me that you’ve never been there?” Logan laughed.

  “No. I haven’t. Why do you have to be such a dick? Just because she’s the town bicycle doesn’t mean that I’ve had a ride.”

  “Sorry, dude.” Logan looked at his younger brother. Growing up, Logan had been the good son, the hard worker, but Freddie had always been the cute one. If he hadn’t blown out his knees ski racing, they would’ve both been sports stars. Freddie had been in one relationship and that bitch had broken his heart. The dating pool in Chance Rapids was slim and for the first time, he looked at Freddie with pity and he hated himself for it.

  Freddie’s phone chimed and he picked it up to read the incoming message. He bolted upright and shuffled the papers on the coffee table frantically. He found the remote and clicked on the entertainment channel.

  “Josh just told me to turn this on. Right now.”

  Logan didn’t care, he was lost in thought when someone familiar caught his eye.

  “Holy shit. Is that Charlotte?” Freddie said.

  Logan sat down on the edge of the sofa and stared at the giant sixty-inch screen. The show kept pausing the shot at the very moment Serena Cruise realizes that there’s a bottle of Dom being poured over her head, her eyes wide, her mouth frozen in a silent open scream. There was no doubt in Logan’s mind that the raven-haired woman in the background, the one wielding the champagne bottle, was Charlotte O’Hare.

  “Oh, nooo.” Freddie turned to Logan. “Let me guess, that blonde is your wedding date.”

  Logan sank onto the couch, his heart racing. Just when he thought his day couldn’t get any worse, now this. His stomach churned as he watched the hosts’ smiling faces as they backed up the video and drew a circle around Charlotte’s face, calling her the unidentified jealous woman.

  Logan realized that he was holding his breath and exhaled heavily, “That’s her.”

  “Looks like the cat’s out of the bag, bud,” Freddie said and clicked back to the hockey game.

  Minutes earlier, Logan had been fairly confident he could make everything right with Charlotte. Yes, there were fires burning but he could put them out. However, now that gasoline had been thrown on them, he was one hundred percent sure that he was a dead man.

  Chapter 21

  CHARLOTTE SLIPPED THE hostess two hundred bucks to bypass the line that snaked out the door of the restaurant. The popular spot buzzed with the sound of the weekend brunch crowd as the bridal party was whisked to their table.

  Mimosas were delivered as soon as they sat down. Charlotte gulped hers back, tapped on the glass, and the server immediately poured her another. She was shaking like a leaf, every part of her body vibrating with adrenaline and anger. Not even anger, fury. The past had come knocking on the door, ‘surprise, you know that terrible thing that happened to you fifteen years ago? Thought you might want to go through the exact same thing again.’

  The women sat around the table staring at each other. A toast didn’t seem appropriate, given the circumstances, but Charlotte raised her glass. “To Megan and Josh,” her voice quivered. They clinked glasses and as they sipped their mimosas, looked to each other with wide eyes. Charlotte cleared her throat, “Come on you gloomy Gus’s, let’s not let that little snafu ruin the day.” Her positive words were betrayed by her throat as it constricted stifling a sob.

  Megan wrapped her arms around Charlotte and held her tightly, but Charlotte resisted. “No, I’m not falling apart over this. I guess it’s true what they say, ‘people don’t change.’” She wiped her tears away with the linen napkin. “Today is about you and Josh. Not me and that bastard.” She plastered on a smile.

  “That’s not true, you’ve changed.”

  Charlotte thought that she had changed but wondered if she was still the same insecure girl from Chance Rapids, just disguised with better outfits and fancy cars. “Did you know?” she asked.

  “Hell, no,” Megan replied. “I can’t believe it actually. I thought that Logan was such a good guy and I’m pretty sure that Josh would’ve told me if he had known. I knew that he dated models in the past, but I thought it was just that, you know, the past.”

  “Did you see the look on her face?” Melissa leaned in and smiled. “I mean, that was practically a full bottle.”

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” Charlotte said.

  Megan looked up from her menu, “Char, if you hadn’t, I would have,” Megan grinned. “I probably would’ve gone with the sparkling apple juice though and not the three-hundred-dollar bottle of champagne.”

  “You would
n’t have done that,” Charlotte smiled. Megan was proper and reserved.

  “You’re right, but I would’ve thought about it,” Megan replied.

  “You’re my hero right now,” Ariel grinned.

  The waiter returned with a bottle of champagne, “I owe you ladies a bottle – a full one,” she laughed. The dark cloud that hung over the table lifted slightly. Laughing helped. Charlotte decided. Just like work, she would compartmentalize. Today was about being with friends and spoiling Megan. Dealing with Logan, that piece of shit, well, that was going to have to wait. She was an expert at bottling her feelings, and this was something she was going to bury deep down inside.

  Charlotte tried to put the morning’s escapade aside and enjoy her eggs Florentine, but all she could hear was Serena Cruise’s voice on repeat, do you think Logan Brush will like this? Do you think Logan Brush will like this? Doyouthinkloganbrushwilllikethis? Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut to try and make the valley girl voice disappear, and when she opened them, the din of the restaurant came back, along with the laughter from the bridal party.

  After their lunch check was settled, Charlotte pulled out her phone to check on her daily report from her assistant. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the subject line: nothing urgent to report. She locked her phone and slipped it back into her purse.

  “Ladies, some urgent business has just come up,” she lied.

  “Ohh,” the women chorused.

  “But you’re going to miss the manicures,” Ariel said, her eyes wide with concern.

  Charlotte draped her cashmere jacket over her arm and picked up her handbag. “I’m sorry to miss out on that, but you ladies have fun today. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she made an elaborate display of winking. The irony of the statement not lost on her after this morning’s extreme lapse in judgment.

  Megan stood up and held her arms out wide. Charlotte allowed Megan to hug her tightly and wasn’t surprised when she asked, “Are you going to be okay?” quietly in her ear. She pulled back and held onto her best friend’s arms.

  “I’ll always be okay.” Then she said to the rest of the group, “The town car will take you all back to Chance Rapids. I have to stay in the city to deal with a high maintenance client.”

  Charlotte waved goodbye and held her head high as she strode out of the restaurant. She smiled; she was telling the truth. She was always okay.

  Fuck Logan Brush and fuck Chance Rapids. She didn’t need a washed-up retired hockey player or that shithole town for that matter. Her business was her life, and she was happy to be getting back to her true love – work.

  Chapter 22

  BANG.

  Logan was breathing heavily as he pulled back for another slapshot from the blue line. He missed the net but didn’t care, all he wanted to do was blast pucks as hard as he could. Each time the puck ricocheted off the boards, he imagined it taking out one of the many people on his shit list: tall skinny kid, his agent Ray, Serena Cruise. But number one on the list was impossible to hit, himself.

  He turned and skated as fast as he could to the other end of the ice, spraying the boards with a thick layer of ice as he stopped, his sharp skates cutting into the fresh sheet of ice. Practice was like therapy. For two hours Logan was able to think about something other than Charlotte. That’s what sports did for him. When his mom was on one of her benders, he could make that all disappear the second he stepped onto the ice. The arena smells: gasoline, nachos, sweat, and rubber, all smelled like home to him.

  “Yo.” He heard a voice echo through the arena and saw Freddie’s red jacket by the main door. He dropped his stick in the team box and skated down to the far end of the ice.

  Freddie leaned against the boards, “You coming home anytime soon? Practice ended four hours ago.”

  “Just working on a few plays for the boys.”

  “Mmhmm,” Freddie replied. “Any luck with Stacy?”

  “Kind of.” Logan shook his head and laughed weakly. “I’m giving her ten grand for the video footage.”

  “What footage? I thought it was deleted.”

  “Kids these days,” Logan muttered. “Turns out one of his buddies filmed the entire thing. Charlotte and I ahem, you know,” he felt his face redden at the memory of seeing the high definition cell phone footage of him going down on Charlotte in the woods, the Chance Rapids Bears’ hockey team hat on backward, its logo clear as day between Charlotte’s creamy thighs. “And me threatening a kid – buck naked.”

  “Shit. What an idiot.”

  “I know, we were just so wrapped up in the moment.” Logan kicked his leg and rolled over the boards, he landed on the rubber to stand next to Freddie.

  “Nah, man. I meant the kid. That footage has got to be worth way more than that,” Freddie laughed.

  Logan knew that his brother was trying to cheer him up, and he wasn’t wrong. He would do anything to keep Charlotte’s name out of the tabloids, especially with the recent Serena Cruise incident. “Ray is sending a non-disclosure form, with another 10k payment to each of those punks to keep their mouths shut.”

  Freddie whistled. “Is it really that big of a deal?”

  Logan leaned his elbows on the boards and sighed. “I couldn’t let that happen to Charlotte.”

  “She answering her phone yet?”

  “Nope, and I can’t get through her assistant. I guess the next time I see her will be at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding.”

  Freddie cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably next to Logan, “Yeah, Lo. About that...”

  Logan laughed and hopped back on the ice. He turned to face Freddie, “I’m not in the wedding anymore, am I?”

  “They don’t think it’s a good idea. And by they, I mean Megan.”

  “Did you explain to her what happened?” Logan asked. If someone would let him explain himself, maybe they would understand his predicament.

  “Not my place,” Freddie mumbled.

  Logan groaned and laughed. “Right, I forgot all about small town rules. You people have no problem talking behind everyone’s back, but as soon as it’s time to man up, you pull out the ‘mind your own business card and wave it in everybody’s face.” He pushed against the boards and drifted backward away from Freddie.

  “Are you serious right now?” Freddie rarely raised his voice, so Logan knew that he had pushed one too many buttons, but right now, he didn’t care. “How about you take a bit of your own advice there, big shot. You want the good news to get back to Charlotte that you’re not a complete shithead? Get out of your skates and go tell her your damn self.” Logan jumped as Freddie slammed the door to the rink shut the metal clang echoed through the cold air.

  Logan watched Freddie through the observation glass as he stormed out of the arena. He skated over to the bench to grab his stick to shoot more pucks, but instead, he roared and smashed it against the boards, pieces of the stick clattering as they scattered across the ice. He leaned against the boards; clouds of his steamy breath pumped into the cold air. Freddie was right.

  LOGAN TURNED ON THE windshield wipers and noticed that the rain had turned to wet snow. He honked the horn twice and saw the curtains pull back. His phone buzzed and he tapped on the message from Freddie:

  Are you summoning me?

  Logan sighed, he had expected Freddie to throw on his jacket and run out of the house to meet him, like a good little brother, but it looked like the novelty of having his big brother home was fading away. He shut off the engine and jogged up the walkway to the house. Freddie opened the door as he reached it.

  “Come on,” Logan said as Freddie opened his mouth.

  “Come on where?” Freddie turned and flopped down on the sofa.

  “You’re coming with me to the city.”

  “The city,” Freddie scoffed. “Traffic, pollution, dog shit everywhere, yeah, no.” Freddie cracked a beer and took a sip. “I’ve got plans this weekend.”

  “I’ll make it worth your while,” Logan replied. �
��How about box seat tickets and VIP package to the game.”

  Freddie bolted upright, “Are you serious?”

  “Yep. You just have to do something for me.”

  Freddie eyed Logan dubiously. “And what might that be?”

  “Pack your bags. I’ll fill you in on the drive.”

  Logan waited while Freddie threw together a backpack that probably consisted of a spare t-shirt, boxers, a hockey jersey, and maybe, if he was lucky, a toothbrush and deodorant.

  He usually traveled on the official Chance Rapids Bobcats bus, but there were a few things. Well, not things but people, that he had to sort out in the city before tomorrow’s game; one was tall and blonde, the other was the woman he had fallen in love with. Again.

  Chapter 23

  CHARLOTTE WAS LYING low. She hoped that the whole thing would be forgotten before she was identified. Charlotte was thankful that she didn’t have to show her face in public. She was technically supposed to be in Chance Rapids for another day, so her assistant hadn’t booked her any appointments.

  Her assistant rapped her knuckles on the door to her office and poked her head in.

  “Everything okay, Charlotte?” Kate asked, looking Charlotte up and down.

  Charlotte knew that she looked like shit. She had on a baseball hat with her hair tucked up underneath, a roomy gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and running shoes. A far cry from her business self, but more importantly, a further cry from the woman pouring champagne over a model’s head.

  “Yes, I’m just catching up on some paperwork,” she replied. It was the truth, the paperwork, while mind-numbingly dull, kept her from replaying everything that had happened repeatedly in her head.

  Her phone buzzed, dancing across the glass desk, Logan’s name lighting up the screen. She sighed and clicked ignore – again. She held out her hand and her assistant placed the pink message slips in her hand.

  Her phone buzzed again, and Charlotte grabbed at it, couldn’t he take a hint? But it was Megan’s number. She leaned back in her white leather chair and answered. She and Megan hadn’t spoken since the day before.